In a nutshell, the Washington, D.C., Court of Appeals ruled that the Federal Communications Commission could not enforce its “Open Internet” policies, which would help keep the Internet a less-restricted space. Net neutrality would force ISPs to treat all traffic equally.

The court ruled that the FCC didn’t have the authority because the laws under the FCC’s list of rules could only apply to telecommunication outlets. ISPs are a special entity, and they don’t fall under the telecommunications flag. According to the letter of the law, at least.

It remains unclear if the FCC will appeal the ruling, but regardless of the appeal, we think the elephant in the room is that the FCC will never be able to enforce such policies unless Congress updates the laws classifying the methods of communication. The current law predates the Internet was such a commodity.